RUGBY SEVENS: August 2016 awaits one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles - the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.
With the 31st Summer Olympic Games in Rio sitting just 15 months away, the first steps of qualification for Rugby Sevens’ debut are underway.
WOMEN’S
The Women’s Rugby Sevens Tournament will see 12 countries compete for the Gold Medal in the suburb of Deodoro. One automatic qualification place will go to the host team, Brazil. For the remaining 11 spots available, the road to Rio has a few different pathways that will determine who will receive a place in the Olympic Tournament.
STEP ONE
The first path in the qualification process is the 2014/15 Women’s Sevens World Series. At the conclusion of the World Series in May 2015 in Amsterdam, the top four ranked teams will qualify directly a quota place for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
With two tournaments in London and Amsterdam remaining, New Zealand leads the standings with a perfect 80 points. Canada lies second with 58 points and Australia third with 56 points. France is fourth with 52 points with the USA and England both four points outside of the top four in fifth and sixth place respectively.
With Australia currently third, they are in a strong position to qualify automatically though admittedly there is still a lot of hard work to do following indifferent tournaments in Atlanta and Langford.
STEP TWO
Teams that do not achieve a top four ranking through the 2014/15 Women’s Sevens World Series will need to win their respective 2015 Regional Association Women’s Sevens Championships between 1 June 2015 and 31 December 2015. The teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games will not be eligible to compete in the Regional Qualification tournaments.
This tournament will take place in Auckland in November.
There are six total quota qualification places available, one per region: Africa (CAR), Asia (ARFU), Europe (FIRA-AER), North America and the Caribbean (NACRA), Oceania (FORU) and South America (CONSUR).
If Australia is unable to maintain its top four ranking through the 2014/15 Women’s Sevens World Series, they would need to subsequently win the Oceania (FORU) Regional Women’s Sevens Championships to receive a qualification place for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
New Zealand is currently the only team other than Australia from the Oceania region that is ranked in the top four in the World Series. If New Zealand maintains a top four ranking, then they will not be eligible to participate in the Oceania (FORU) Regional Women’s Sevens Championships.
STEP THREE
Should Australia not receive a qualification place through the Regional Tournament but achieve a top three placing, then they will participate in the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament for the final spot in the Olympic Games. This tournament will take place between January 2016 and 30 June 2016 (final date confirmation will be made by 30 November 2015).
The best ranked teams from each 2015 Regional Tournament will be invited to participate, 16 in total: Africa (3 teams), Asia (3 teams), Europe (4 teams), North America and the Caribbean (2 teams), Oceania (2 teams), and South America (2 teams). Teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games will not be eligible to participate in this tournament.
Only the winner of this Final Olympic Qualification Tournament will receive the final qualification place to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
MENS
A total of 12 Men’s teams will receive a quota qualification place, including one automatic qualification going to the host country, Brazil. For the remaining 11 spots available, there are several qualification pathways to determine who will be on the plane to South America.
Ahead of the Glasgow Sevens this weekend, we explore the different paths that lie in wait on the Road to Rio.
STEP ONE
The first teams to qualify automatically for the Rio Olympics are determined through the 2014/15 Men’s Sevens World Series. At the conclusion of the World Series in London later this month, the top four ranked teams will qualify directly a quota place to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
With one leg of the season remaining - London - the current standings have Fiji leading (147 World Series points), followed by South Africa in 2nd (142 points), New Zealand in 3rd (139 points) and England currently filing the final spot in the top four (117 points) ahead of Australia in fifth place (101 points)
With the Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens team currently sitting in fifth spot overall, they would need to overcome a sixteen point gap between England and Australia in the final leg to reach the top four ranking required to receive an automatic qualification place for the Rio Olympic Games.
Should England make the Cup quarter-finals, or if Australia fail to reach the last eight, Australia will miss out on automatic qualification.
STEP TWO
Teams that do not achieve a top four ranking will need to win their respective 2015 World Rugby Regional Association Men’s Sevens Championships to be held between 1 June 2015 and 31 December 2015.
There are six total quota qualification places available, one per region: Africa (CAR), Asia (ARFU), Europe (FIRA-AER), North America and the Caribbean (NACRA), Oceania (FORU) and South America (CONSUR).
The Oceania tournament will be held in Auckland in November.
If Australia is unable to achieve a top four ranking by the end of the World Series, then the team would need to subsequently win the Oceania (FORU) Regional Men’s Sevens Championships to receive a qualification place for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
New Zealand and Fiji from the Oceania region are currently ranked in the top four in the 2015/16 Sevens World Series. If these two teams maintain their positions and qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the conclusion of the World Series, they will not be eligible to participate in the Oceania (FORU) Regional Men’s Sevens Championships.
STEP THREE
Should the Australia not qualify through the Regional Tournament but still achieve a top three placing, then they will participate in the Men’s Final Olympic Qualification Tournament for the final place in the Olympic Games.
This tournament will take place between January 2016 and 30 June 2016 (final date confirmation will be made by 30 November 2015).
The best ranked teams from each 2015 Regional Tournament will be invited to participate, 16 in total: Africa (3 teams), Asia (3 teams), Europe (4 teams), North America and the Caribbean (2 teams), Oceania (2 teams), and South America (2 teams). Teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games will not be eligible to participate in this tournament.
Only the winner of this Final Olympic Qualification Tournament will receive the final qualification place to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
